One of the claims China makes internationally is that it has always ruled over Taiwan, going back to prehistory. This is the basis for China’s false claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. In fact, archeological digs in Taiwan have never found any evidence of permanent Chinese administrative structure on Taiwan.
The Portuguese in 1590 were the first to discover Taiwan, besides the original aborigine settlers who were of Polynesian descent. That’s why Taiwan’s first name was Formosa - a sailor called the island “Ihla Formosa!” when he saw it. The Dutch in fact were the first to rule over Taiwan, beginning in 1624. The first Chinese on Taiwan came as imported workers, under Dutch rule. They intermarried with the aborigines and stayed on Taiwan.
Really, the Chinese government was never interested in Taiwan back in those days. The Qing Dynasty was a land power and had no interest in the sea. After Dutch rule was overthrown in Taiwan, and piracy became a big problem off Taiwan’s coast, the American, French, and Japanese governments complained to the Qing government as the greater power in the area. The Qing’s response was “Taiwan is beyond our territory.”
It wasn’t until the Sino-Japanese War at the end of the 19th Century that China became interested in Taiwan at all. Because of the war, the land-based Qing decided in 1887 that they would like to annex the island to compete against Japan’s naval power. However, the Qing lost the war in 1895 and Japan became the ruler of Taiwan for the next 50 years.
Published in the FAPA YPG Newsleter 08/2009 By Albert Tseng
